A travel hack that went viral on TikTok taught users how to save money on hotels and Airbnb by booking directly with the accommodation. Now, a new startup, Directo, is helping travelers find the same deals with the help of a Chrome extension that directs them to the accommodation's website, where they can often find discounted rates because the accommodation doesn't have to pay a sales commission.
On social media, creators and influencers post various money-saving tips, teaching users how to book a room or homestay for less. This often involves doing a reverse image search of the accommodation's photos to find its website, which is particularly useful when booking a longer stay, where the savings can be substantial.
Of course, booking direct comes with risks — you may not get the same travel guarantees and protections as major websites like Booking.com, Expedia, Airbnb, etc. — but when travelers are looking to save hundreds of dollars or more, they often choose to take the risk.
The idea for Directo came from observing this emerging behavior among Gen Z users and realizing that it could be made more automated while also adding its own safety protections, said co-founder and co-CEO Pierre Becerril.
Image credit: Directo
“What we do is provide professional inventory management with good software, so at least they know this part is safe,” says Becerril, who comes from the travel industry and got into tech after participating in a TechCrunch hackathon. The Madrid-based third-time founder recently sold startup Transparent, a software company focused on the vacation rental market, to Lighthouse, where he worked before founding Directo.
Becerril explained that while many hotel sites today are “very technologically advanced” and have powerful booking engines, they're not the first place people go to book — instead, consumers tend to go to online aggregators or larger websites where they can search a wider range of listings.
“Big websites like Expedia, Booking.com and Airbnb have a monopoly on search and distribution,” Becerril says. “These big websites charge a commission, which is a shame when you can book directly with great websites that don't charge you commission and still get perks.”
Some savvy travelers have already realized this, and are discovering that they can avoid Airbnb's additional fees and cleaning charges by using reverse image search to book through the accommodation's website itself.
Directo aims to make direct booking easier by identifying accommodations that are known to be using a modern tech stack that ensures a secure checkout process, which at the very least alleviates users' concerns that the site is functioning properly and that credit card transactions are safe. It also relies on its community to submit other websites for consideration and flag those where they find great deals.
The Chrome extension works with a variety of major travel sites, including Airbnb, Booking.com, VRBO, Expedia, and Abritel, with more to be added in the future. Accommodations that can be booked directly are indicated with a yellow and black “D” icon. Accommodations that users report as a good deal also display a cheers emoji. If a user reports a bad deal, Directo communicates that information to the hotel, which can be used to negotiate vouchers or discounts for the customer.
“It's a bit like Honey,” Becerril said, referring to the deal-finding browser add-on that PayPal acquired for $4 billion in 2019.
Like Honey, the extension is free for consumers to use and can be downloaded from the Chrome Web Store. The startup makes money by selling subscriptions to hotels, who can improve their connectivity with Directo by pushing special deals to users and members. These funds are now being reinvested into marketing to grow the consumer install base.
In testing, Directo gained 115,000 users and now has around 200,000 hospitality brands with at least one property in its inventory database, collectively representing millions of properties and rooms around the world.
The startup itself was co-founded by digital nomads Marina Guastavino, co-CEO, Julian Toledo, CTO, and Sofia Canepa (growth and product development), with Becerril not being able to join full-time until a few months ago due to other obligations following the sale of his previous company.
Directo has raised $1 million in pre-seed funding from French venture capital firm Kima Ventures, Calafia, an angel group of global female tech leaders, travel-focused fund Derive Ventures, and 26 travel industry veterans.